Only 33% Favor Action as Backing by GOP, Independents Slumps; Almost 75% Say Focus Needs to Be on Home Turf

President Barack Obama's push for Congress to authorize military action in Syria faces headwinds from an American public that increasingly is wary of overseas entanglements and doubtful that an attack would benefit the U.S.

In a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey, just 33% of those polled said Congress should approve Mr. Obama's request to attack Syria, while less than a quarter thinks military action is in the national interest.

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More daunting for the president is that support for U.S. involvement is declining as the political negotiations over a potential strike play out.

At the end of August, an NBC News poll found that half of Americans backed a limited set of airstrikes to destroy Syrian military units in response to an alleged government-directed gas attack that killed more than 1,400 civilians. In less than two weeks since then, support for a limited attack dropped to 44%, the new poll found.

"As the public hears more information, they are coming down on the side of 'don't do it,' " said Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster who conducted the survey with Democratic pollsters Fred Yang and Peter Hart.

Public unease over military action in Syria overlaps with growing opposition to interventions aimed at promoting freedom and democracy abroad, and increasing support for focusing the country's resources on needs at home.

Almost 75% of participants in the new poll said the country should focus on domestic problems instead of working to promote democracy elsewhere, a sharp shift from 2005, when 54% said the U.S. should keep its focus at home.

The shift was dramatic among conservatives, underscoring a widening isolationist streak within the GOP. Since 2005, support for promoting democracy overseas has fallen among Republicans to 19% from 60%. More than three-quarters of Republicans now say the U.S. should focus on challenges at home, up from just 32% who said that in 2005.

The poll found almost six in 10 Americans expressing disapproval of how Mr. Obama has dealt with the Syria situation and just a third saying he had made a convincing case for action.

"The American red line is, 'Stay out,' and it will be a heavy lift to move public opinion with just one speech," said Mr. Hart, the Democratic pollster, speaking of Mr. Obama's Tuesday night televised address to the nation.

Should Congress turn down the president's request to authorize force, 59% of those polled said they would oppose Mr. Obama moving ahead on his own to deploy strikes against Syria.

The new survey of 1,000 adults, taken between Thursday and Sunday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%. It comes at the start of a week in which Mr. Obama and his top aides plan a full-out effort to convince the public and members of Congress that attacking Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons would bolster national security.

The plunge in support has been the most dramatic among Republicans and independents. In late August, 54% of self-identified Republicans and 48% of independents supported limited airstrikes against Syria, compared with 51% of Democrats. In the new poll, support among Republicans had fallen to 36% and among independents to 34%, while support among Democrats moved up slightly, to 55%.

Democrats remain ambivalent about the wisdom of a Syria offensive, with just 30% saying military action is in the national interest, compared with 35% who say it isn't. Slightly less than half of Democrats say the president had laid out a strong case for a strike, while just a quarter of independents and a fifth of Republicans say they feel that way.

In less than two weeks, Republicans have shifted sharply on whether a Syria attack would be in the nation's interest. In late August, 26% said it was, and 34% said it wasn't. In the new poll, 19% of Republicans said a strike would be in the national interest, while 58% believe it wouldn't.

Some who responded to the poll supported responses to Syria shy of airstrikes.

Richard Dickinson, a 58-year-old retiree in Phoenix, said he approved of Mr. Obama's decision to refer the Syria matter to Congress. But the Republican-leaning independent doesn't support Mr. Obama's overall direction on Syria, saying the U.S. should stick to helping Syrian refugees, and no more.

June Conaway, 74, of Allentown, Pa., is also opposed to strikes. The White House should have pushed for peace talks "two years ago, when it all started," she said, adding that nothing could change her opposition to military action now.

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